Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
DOI 10.1007/s11157-007-9126-3
REVIEW PAPER
1 Introduction
Biogeotechnology is a branch of Geotechnical Engineering that deals with the applications of biological
methods to geotechnical engineering problems. At the
present, biogeotechnologies are related mainly to the
applications of plants or vegetative soil cover for soil
erosion control and slope protection, prevention of
slope failure, and reduction of water infiltration into
slopes. Biogeotechnology have advantages of low
investment and maintenance costs. It also offers
benefits to environment and aesthetics (Karol 2003).
Microbial geotechnology is an emerging branch of
Geotechnical Engineering. Although there are various
potential applications of microorganisms to geotechnical engineering, at the present, promising applications are only concentrated in the bioclogging and
biocementation. Therefore, this review is covering
mainly the recent developments in these two areas.
Bioclogging is to reduce the hydraulic conductivity of soil and porous rocks due to microbial activity
or products. It could be used to reduce drain channel
erosion, form grout curtains to reduce the migration
of heavy metals and organic pollutants, and prevent
piping of earth dams and dikes.
Biocementation is to enhance the strength and
stiffness properties of soil and rocks though microbial
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1
Due to this enzymatic reaction, pH is increased and
hydrocarbonate is produced. It is initiating precipitation of calcium carbonate, which clogging the pores
and binding soil particles (cited from Kucharski et al.
2005). The bioclogging could be used in the industry to
decrease permeability of porous media, reduce fluid
flow, enhance the recovery of oil from reservoirs (cited
from Kucharski et al. 2005), and repair cracks in
concrete (Ramachandran et al. 2001). For the formation of new bioclogging materials the following
microbial techniques are used: (a) the bioproduction
of bacterial slime due to supply of saccharides into soil
for the soil obstruction in the dike or dune; (b) bacteriamediated transformation of sand to sandstone using
soil bacteria, urea, and calcium ions. Bacteria hydrolyse urea to ammonium increasing pH, producing
carbonate, and precipitating calcium as calcium carbonate under high pH (http://www.geodelft.com/files/
bacteriabuildbiodikes.pdf and http://www.smartsoils.
nl). A pilot scale test of bioclogging using bioproducton of slime in soil was successfully carried out in 2004.
After 6 weeks, the hydraulic resistance of soil in
experiment was enhanced by a factor five. Afterwards,
the resistance factor increased further to a value of
about thirty. Even more then 3 months after the last
injection of nutrients, the hydraulic resistance
remained stable. In control container, without injection
of the nutrients, the hydraulic resistance around the
inflow was not decreased (Veenbergen et al. 2005).
Another potential application of bioclogging is sealing
of the unforeseen leaks in the sheet piling screens
around the construction wells, which occur at some
10% of all construction pits dug in the Netherlands. It is
estimated that the cost of solving such problems totals
several tens of millions of euros each year. The injection of nutrients into the groundwater ensures that it
flows towards the problem area. If needed group of soil
microorganisms is absent in the porous medium, these
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Mechanism of bioclogging
Potential geotechnical
applications
Oligotrophic
Production of slime in soil
microaerophilic bacteria
Nitrifying bacteria
Ammonifying bacteria
Iron-reducing bacteria
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liquid growth medium with urea and a dissolved calcium salt. Cemented sand, assessed by shear wave
velocity and undrained compression triaxial tests,
exhibits a less brittle shear behavior with a higher
initial shear stiffness and ultimate shear capacity than
untreated loose specimens. Precipitated calcite is
formed through particleparticle contacts. This has
been confirmed by X-ray compositional mapping in
which the observed cement bonds comprise of calcite
(DeJong et al. 2006).
This method of microbial cementation could be
used for the following civil and environmental
engineering applications (Kucharski et al. 2005):
However, successful field applications of biocementation have not been reported so far.
The study on the biocementation of sand with
enrichment culture of iron-reducing bacteria, fine
particles of iron ore, and cellulose as electron donor
has demonstrated that solution of Fe2+ (700 mg Fe2+/
L), formed from iron ore particles, can produce
significant cementation effect for sand after oxidation
of Fe2+ by air. The unconfined shear strength of the
sand has increased from zero to 140 kPa (Ivanov and
Chu, unpublished data).
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Material
Price
($/kg)
Amount of
additives
required
(kg/m3)
LignosulphitesLignosulphonates
0.10.3
2060
218
Sodium silicate
formulations
0.61.8
1040
672
Phenoplasts
0.51.5
510
2.515
Acrylates
1.03.0
510
530
Acrylamides
1.03.0
510
530
Polyurethanes
5.010.0
15
550
microbial process is usually slower. Another disadvantage is that the microbial process is more complex
than the chemical one because the microbial activity
depends on many environmental factors such as
temperature, pH, concentrations of donors and acceptors of electrons, concentrations and diffusion rates of
nutrients and metabolites. The design of microbial
applications in bioclogging and biocementation must
take into account not only soil conditions and grouting
medium content but also microbiological, ecological
and geotechnical engineering aspects of the process.
Design of bioclogging and biocementation requires
data of the biological processes (growth, biosynthesis,
biodegradation, bioreduction, biooxidation, and specific enzymatic activities), chemical reactions
accompanied with formation of insoluble compounds,
and physico-chemical processes such as precipitation,
crystallization, and adhesion. Specific geotechnical
parameters of soil must be used as process optimization
criteria. Design of bioclogging and biocementation
processes is not shown in this review because there are
no related papers yet. Due to the complexity, none of
the bioclogging or biocementation processes have been
tested in large-scale construction or land reclamation
project yet.
3.5 Summary
Different possible microbial processes that can lead
potentially to biocementation are summarized in
Table 4. These include binding of the soil particles
with sulphides of metals produced by sulphatereducing bacteria; binding of the particles with
carbonates of metals produced due to hydrolysis of
urea; and binding of the particles with ferrous and
ferric salts and hydroxides, produced due to activity
of iron-reducing bacteria.
Molasses + microorganisms
Homogenized food-processing wastes + microorganisms
Iron ore + organic wastes + microorganisms
Organic wastes (agricultural, horticultural, food-processing wastes)
Calcium chloride + urea + microorganisms
Price ($/kg)
Amount of additives
required (kg/m3)
Cost of additives
(m3 of soil)
0.10.2
520
0.54.0
0.050.1
1020
0.52.0
1.04.0
0.10.2
1020
0.050.1
1020
0.52.0
0.20.3
2030
4.09.0
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Mechanism of biocementation
Sulphatereducing
bacteria
Ammonifying
bacteria
Potential geotechnical
applications
Mitigate liquefaction
potential of sand
Enhance stability for
retaining walls,
embankments, and dams;
Increase bearing capacity
of foundations
Iron-reducing
bacteria
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Table 5 The periodic table of physiological classification of chemotrophic prokaryotes for the screening of the physiological groups
suitable for soil bioclogging and biocementation
Ecology of origin
Anaerobic
respirating
prokaryotes
Aerobic
respirating
prokaryotes
Bacteroides
Desulfobacter
Escherichia
Pseudomonas
Prevotella
Ruminobacter
Geobacter
Wolinella
Clostridium
Desulfotomaculum
Microthrix
Desulfitobacterium
Nocardia
Peptococcus
Eubacterium
Prokaryotes originating from extreme Desulfurococcus
environments (Archaea)
Thermosphaera
Pyrodictium
Bacillus infernus
Methanobacterium
Shewanella
Beggiatoa
Streptococcus
Metallosphaera
Acinetobacter
Nitrosomonas
Bacillus
Arthrobacter
Streptomyces
Picrophilus
Thermococcus
Acidianus
Ferroplasma
Haloarcula
Haloferax
Sulfolobus
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5 Conclusions
(1)
151
(2)
(3)
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